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Foundations of Citizen Science

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What is it, and how can you get involved?

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Today’s Agenda

Introductions

What is Citizen Science?

How to Get Started

Taking a Closer Look

Wrap-up

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What comes to mind when you hear the phrase citizen science?

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What is citizen science?

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��It is a global movement that enables people from all walks of life to contribute to real scientific research in collaboration with scientists. ��It’s how people can impact issues they care about...and help science!

Citizen Science

(Also referred to as community science, participatory research and crowdsourced science)

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Citizen Science can involve…

Biodiversity, Night Sky

Observing

Wildlife, Pollinator Activity, Bird Migration

Monitoring

Water Quality, Light Pollution, Marine Debris

Measuring

Videos and Images online

Analyzing

Photos and Samples

Collecting

in your backyard, while exploring your interests, through your hobbies, with your family, and more!

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Imagine this tree in your neighborhood.�

  • How many leaves do you see in relation to flowers?
  • Do you see buds on the branches?
  • Are the flowers in full bloom or are some wilted?

What do you notice?

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You just participated in citizen science!

You just shared observations that scientists can use to research climate change or the appearance of destructive invasive species, and that city planners might use to better understand tree canopies and heat effects.

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Why is it important?

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Because of citizen scientists …

  • We know the human belly buttons contain 50+ species of bacteria
  • 3.5 months of lab-equivalent research was completed in one weekend through 2,566 hours of volunteer participation

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  • Hundreds of exoplanets have been discovered, including “Percival,” an exoplanet in a habitable zone
  • 126 birds species identified as “lost to science”
  • We’ve discovered that some invasive ants spread by hitchhiking

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Plus!

In one weekend in 2019, citizen scientists accomplished 2,566 research hours, or 3.5 months of lab-equivalent research time, for an Alzheimer’s research project.

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Who can do citizen science?

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Citizen scientists are typically people from all walks of life without specialized training who participate in scientific research to help answer questions that cannot be answered without their help.

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The answer is anyone!

Retired people

Busy working adults

Community Groups

Youth groups

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How do you get started?

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SciStarter is a globally acclaimed, online citizen science hub where more than 3,000 projects from all over the internet have been organized and made searchable!

Step 1: Join SciStarter.org

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Create an account

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Find projects that interest you!

The Great Sunflower Project

Document pollinators in your community.

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Caterpillars Count!

Measure seasonal variation by counting arthropods.

Globe at Night

Monitor light pollution.

Anywhere. Anytime. Any topic. 

�

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The projects and events on SciStarter.org represent a wide array of topics and research programs that participants from diverse communities and backgrounds can engage in anywhere, anytime, just once or on an ongoing basis.

Step 2: Search SciStarter.org/finder

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What skills do I need to do citizen science?

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When you do citizen science you are using science process skills.

Science Process Skills

Asking Questions

Observing

Collecting Data

Reporting Data

Analyzing Data

Communicating Results

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Taking a Closer Look

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Let’s Reflect

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What skills did you practice while completing Project Squirrel?

Science Process Skills

Asking Questions

Observing

Collecting Data

Reporting Data

Analyzing Data

Communicating Results

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Let’s Reflect

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What skills did you practice while completing Project Squirrel?

Science Process Skills

Asking Questions

Observing

Collecting Data

Reporting Data

Analyzing Data

Communicating Results

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Let’s try a project!

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Play a game to accelerate Alzheimer's research. Let’s try!

https://media.scistarter.org/stallcatchers-demo/SCDemo_p1.html

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Enter Stall Catchers!

50-100

play every day

>28 000

catchers

5x faster �research

1-2 months �per research question

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Let’s Review!

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Which of these activities is citizen science? �There may be more than one answer.

Tree Planting Day

Take a photo of a plant during a nature hike and upload to INaturalist

Organize a beach clean up

Plant a pollinator garden to increase pollinator activity

Test your local tap water and report findings to Crowd the Tap

A

B

C

D

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Benefits to Science & Society ��Citizen science enables people from all walks of life to actively learn more about the world and address issues they are curious or concerned about.

Broadens the scope of who can contribute to science.

Enables participants to engage in data collection, analysis, and interpretation.

Enables participants to learn about the nature of science and scientific reasoning.

Accelerates important research and discovery.

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Now you’re ready!

Complete the Foundations of Citizen Science Training and earn a badge.

Visit SciStarter.org/Training for more information.

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Questions?